From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Sharkey Collection. Letter from R. D. McLean, the mayor of Grenada, Mississippi, to Mississippi Governor William L. Sharkey asking if African Americans who are allegedly stealing in the community can be tried under the old codes that applied to enslaved people.

From the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Governor Pettus Collection. Letter from John Cowdan in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, to Mississippi Governor John J. Pettus offering suggestions on what to do if Abraham Lincoln is elected President of the United States.